Trick-or-treating is on in Nassau County; officials encourage 'recalibration' of holiday
EAST MEADOW, Long Island (WABC) -- Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said on Wednesday she is not banning trick-or-treating this year.
"I'm not going to tell you not to trick-or-treat. When my kids were little, I wouldn't have told them not to trick-or-treat," she said.
Curran is encouraging people to celebrate in different ways this year by doing scavenger hunts in their backyards with their children or watching scary movies together.
"Like most things this year Halloween is going to be a little recalibrated. It's going to be a little bit different with an emphasis on keeping our families, keeping our communities, keeping our children safe," she said during a press conference outside Stew Leonard's in East Meadow.
The grocery store is offering a free Halloween drive-thru experience for families.
RELATED | CDC Halloween guidelines discourage trick-or-treating during COVID-19 pandemic
The Nassau County Health Commissioner encouraged people who will be giving out candy to think about putting out pre-packaged bags of candy on a table, so kids aren't digging through a communal bowl of candy.
"I think that we can do Halloween safely," said Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein. "Everybody's got to find their own comfort zone."
Stew Leonard Jr. said the sale of Halloween candy is up at his grocery store chain, but fewer people are buying Halloween cakes and cupcakes, indicating that people are not planning Halloween parties.
He said the store has sold more pumpkins so far this season than all of last year.
"So it seems like people are excited about the holidays. They're just concerned about how they're going to get together," he said.
High-risk Halloween activities, according to the CDC include the following:
-Door-to-door trick-or-treating
-Trunk-or-treat events with treats handed out to large groups from trunks of cars
-Indoor costume parties
-Indoor haunted houses
-Hayrides/tractor rides with people who are not in your household
-Going to a fall festival outside your community
Below are some of the low-risk Halloween activities mentioned by the CDC:
-Carving/decorating pumpkins with your family
-Carving/decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors/friends
-Decorating your home for the season
-Halloween scavenger hunt where children find Halloween-themed things while walking outdoors from house-to-house
-Halloween movie night with your family
-Halloween scavenger hunt style trick-or-treat search, where your household searches around you home for treats
RELATED | Trick-or-treating not allowed in 3 New Jersey towns amid COVID-19 pandemic
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